Bamboo Contemporary: Green Houses Around the Globe

Bamboo, a member of the grass family, has been used for centuries for mainly ornamental and decorative purposes, commonly in baskets, furniture, and musical instruments. Bamboo is a strong and renewable material suitable for house construction as well; however, due to limited access to bamboo in many countries, bamboo houses are uncommon. To demonstrate this material’s versatility, architectural historian Richards (A Minimalism Guide for Beginners) presents a beautiful book that showcases 14 bamboo-construction houses across the globe, from Indonesia to Brazil. (Three of the properties are located in the United States: in Hawai‘i, New York City, and Washington, DC.) All of the houses are either entirely built of bamboo or use it extensively. Each project is covered in a 12–20-page spread with full-page color photos, as well as descriptions of the design’s unique characteristics, its architects, and the materials it uses, and floorplans and landscape architectural drawings.